"I Just Need GPT to Refine My Prompts": Rethinking Onboarding and Help-Seeking with Generative 3D Modeling Tools

TL;DR

This study explores how generative AI tools for 3D modeling change user onboarding and help-seeking behaviors, emphasizing immediate action and new support practices among casual and professional users.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into how generative AI reshapes onboarding, support-seeking, and expertise in 3D modeling workflows.

Findings

Participants skip tutorials, rely on trial and error.

Prompt box becomes primary learning entry point.

Casual users seek external LLMs for prompts.

Abstract

Learning to use feature-rich software is a persistent challenge, but generative AI tools promise to lower this barrier by replacing complex navigation with natural language prompts. We investigated how people approach prompt-based tools for 3D modeling in an observational study with 26 participants (14 casuals, 12 professionals). Consistent with earlier work, participants skipped tutorials and manuals, relying on trial and error. What differed in the generative AI context was how and why they sought support: the prompt box became the entry point for learning, collapsing onboarding into immediate action, while some casual users turned to external LLMs for prompts. Professionals used 3D expertise to refine iterations and critically evaluated outputs, often discarding models that did not meet their standards, whereas casual users settled for "good enough." We contribute empirical insights into how generative AI reshapes help-seeking, highlighting new practices of onboarding, recursive AI-for-AI support, and shifting expertise in interpreting outputs.